End Child/Human Trafficking

Worldwide, 27 million people are victim of trafficking including sexual exploitation of those 5.5 million children are victims of forced labor and child trafficking. Child/Human trafficking can be likened to modern-day slavery. Human trafficking is a gross violation of human rights. It is the illegal trade in human beings through recruitment or abduction, by means of force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of forced labor, debt bondage or sexual exploitation.

Child victims of trafficking are recruited, transported, transferred, harbored or received for the purpose of exploitation. Children are exploited and forced to work in brick kilns and sweatshops, on construction sites, in houses as domestic slaves, on the streets as child beggars, in wars as child soldiers, on farms for agriculture, in traveling sales crews, in the tourist industry in restaurants and hotels, in the commercial sex industry in brothels, strip clubs, and escort and massage services. Some of these conditions are easy to see—but most are hidden. That’s why putting a stop to child slavery is critical to UDiON’s work.

Trafficking is not just an issue that happens to people in other countries. The United States is a source and transit country, and is also considered one of the top destination points for child trafficking and child slavery victims. Cases of Child/Human trafficking have been reported in all 50 U.S. States (National Human Trafficking Resource Center Report, 2011). It is important to understand that anyone can be trafficked regardless of race, class, education, gender, age, or citizenship when forcefully coerced or enticed by false promises.

The Facts:

In 2012 the (UNODC) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports the percentage of child victims had risen in a 3 year span from 20 percent to 27 percent. Of every three child victims, two are girls and one is a boy.

Gender and age profile of victims detected globally: 59% Women – 14% Men – 17% Girls and 10% were Boys.

• 600,000 to 800,000 women, children and men bought and sold across international borders every year and exploited for forced labor or commercial sex (U.S. Government)
• When internal trafficking victims are added to the estimates, the number of victims annually is in the range of 2 to 4 million
• 50% of those victims are estimated to be children
• It is estimated that 76 percent of transactions for sex with underage girls start on the Internet
• 2 million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade (UNICEF)
• There are approximately 27 Million victims of Trafficking Worldwide as of 2012
• 5 Million victims in the United States
• 161 countries are reported to be affected by human trafficking by being a source, transit or destination
• People are reported to be trafficked from 127 countries to be exploited in 137 countries, affecting every continent and every type of economy

The Impact & Victims:

• The majority of trafficking victims are between 18 and 24 years of age
• Human trafficking has surpassed the illegal sale of arms
• Trafficking will surpass the illegal sale of drugs in the next few years
• Drugs are used once and they are gone. Victims of child trafficking can be used and abused over and over
• A $32 billion-a-year industry, human trafficking is on the rise and is in all 50 states (U.S. Government)
• 5 Million of trafficked persons are sexually exploited
• Up to 300,000 Americans under 18 are lured into the commercial sex trade every year
• From 14,500 – 17,500 of those victims are trafficked into the United States each year

The Traffickers:

• 52% of those recruiting victims are men, 42% are women and 6% are both men and women
• In 54% of cases the recruiter was a stranger to the victim, 46% of cases the recruiter was known to victim
• The majority of suspects involved in the trafficking process are nationals of the country where the trafficking process is occurring

The Profits:

• Estimated global annual profits made from the exploitation of all trafficked forced labor are US$ 31.6 billion14

Of this:

5. US$ 15.5 billion – 49% – is generated in industrialized economies
6. US$ 9.7 billion – 30.6% is generated in Asia and the Pacific

• US$ 1.3 billion – 4.1% is generated in Latin America and the Caribbean

1. US$ 1.6 billion – 5% is generated in sub-Saharan Africa
2. US$ 1.5 billion – 4.7% is generated in the Middle East and North Africa15